07 Aug The “Social Justice” – Should you or should you not call out your workplace/industry sexual harassers on social media?

Trigger warning: rape culture and sexual assault.

Empower’em disclaimer: The opinions and ideas expressed in this article do not belong to Empower’em.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. The opinions expressed in these articles should not be considered as legal advice. In case of confusion or legal advice ask a lawyer.

In a post on Medium, former Vox developer Eden Rohatensky accused a superior of making unwanted advances on her in an uber. She was advised not to report anything as he was in a position of power and she was ‘disposable’. She chose to remain silent, as once before in another company she had reported a similar incident and it had turned her own colleagues against her. However, she chose to report this incident after she was fired. She found out that he only received a reprimand and a ban on his drinking during corporate events. She did not name the guy or the company on Medium because she was afraid of repercussions. After posting the post on Medium, where it went viral, Vox finally decided to take action, especially since other women had come up accusing the same guy, Lockhart Steele, former editorial director of Vox Media. He was fired a month before his probable retirement.  

As mentioned in the incident above, it is almost never easy for women to speak about their workplace sexual harassment stories. More often than not, they are ignored or blamed instead. There are many such stories online and offline where women, tired of being ignored and abused have chosen to use social media as their own form of personal justice.

Social media has been both a friend and a foe to these women. After all, it is but a representation of the society at large on a digital scale. All of us have lived through the #metoo movement and have seen droves of women coming out of their comfort zone, taking the reins of their lives in their own hands and opening up about the sexual abuse they faced in their lives and at their workplace. Sometimes after years of silence.

Where inept, and sometimes biased, HR departments and justice systems have failed to provide rightful justice to the wronged women, naming and shaming their perpetrators on social media has helped these women achieve justice. This has also ensured that the other women in and around their workplace know to remain safe from a particular person. 

On the other hand, there are some selected women who are too eager to hop on the #metoo train for their personal gain or to carry out a vendetta against someone. This harms the credibility of ‘real’ survivors and gives the abusers a chance to state that the allegations are false like many others. In light of the recent fake allegations and the slew of females who were sued for slander, women are now afraid more than ever to come out on social media, especially if they are not a famous person with unlimited resources.

When a woman shares her sexual harassment story online, it is viewed, not only by her family and social circles but also by her colleagues at the company and industry. This gives a license to everyone to comment on the survivor’s life, her attitude, her action, her dressing style and whether she was ‘asking for it’. This victim-blaming and shaming might be a bit difficult to take on for the survivor who has solely come for justice on social media, sometimes with the aim of alerting other women about the predator in their midst. It can lead to severe depression and anxiety in the woman who has already suffered at the hands of her colleague or boss, sometimes forcing her to relive the trauma. 

On the other hand, if shared, the story is also seen by other females who have more often than not, faced a similar situation at their past or present workplaces. It leads to a huge amount of support for the survivor for going through the ordeal. Many women share their own harassment stories. There are also support groups and organizations out there who reach out to the survivors via social media. An atmosphere is created where the female does not feel so alone in her experience. She realizes that there are others out there like her. It also encourages other women, who might have kept silence earlier, to open up about their own abuse and take some action. 

There is also a chance that the woman might become a pariah in her own industry, especially if she has made allegations against someone high up in the field. But as the Harvey Weinstein, Michael Oreskes, Mark Halperin and many other cases show, that’s not always the case. Many times justice does prevail. Since the story is also seen by mutual acquaintances of both the survivor and the abuser, it can lead to alerting other employees in the same company/industry about the threat in their midst. It also sends a powerful message to the abuser themselves that they will not be able to get away with their actions any longer. Sometimes these people are serial abusers and chances are, that other victims might come out accusing the same person, leading to better chances of getting justice. Often, the story of the woman catches the attention of the police or the company heads who can take action that the HR or immediate bosses failed to do.

While naming their harassers and abusers might not have led to arrests, the public outcry has managed to drive home the point that there are always consequences to actions. There are many instances that happened in the past couple of years where abusers have lost their jobs and their reputations in one fell swoop. Once someone’s name is out there the story might take on a life of its own. And it’s forever out there, even after 20 years. Their potential bosses can find it, their future spouses, family, kids, anyone. Many might not be able to work in the same industry ever again. They can also lose the support of their friends and family. 

It is for this reason that there is also a high chance that the woman can be sued for libel by the person she accused or by the company for dragging its name through the mud (especially if the company has the resources to do so). Sometimes libel and defamation suits are often used as strategies to simply make women withdraw their statements. As happened to Sandra Muller, the woman who started France’s version of #MeToo, when she accused Eric Brion, a senior French television producer, of sexually harassing her. She chose not to back off and continue her fight for justice. 

However, as Hg.org says: “Truth is a defense to a defamation lawsuit. It is not libelous or slanderous for a person to repeat a truthful statement about someone, even if the statement may damage that person’s reputation.” 

Nevertheless, these lawsuits are expensive. They take up a lot of the victim’s time and money even if the victim is proved right in the end. So if you’re telling the truth, there is little you need to worry about except huge court bills which can be intimidating, but thankfully there are many organizations and lawyers who are ready to either fund or work pro bono on a case if true.

So before you publish on social media make sure you have thought about the consequences of your actions thoroughly. Ask yourself, ‘What will be the impact of going social on you and the people around you?’ ‘Are you equally prepared for the fallout?’ Weigh the pros and cons of your decision and then go ahead. But most important of all, if you have been sexually abused, remember, you are the important party here and do whatever it takes to make yourself feel better.